38 replies to this topic

[Caseyweederman]

Wow, um. I assume there will be some follow-up, possibly some verbal closure?
Is this about anything in specific?
What happened to the whole "I can see this from their point of view, too"?

Well, in any caseif, I'll add my own rant:
<sprocket>
In forum signup forms, there is always too much "required information".
So I don't want anyone to have my email adress! Should that keep me from posting? So I wish my gender anonymous! So my birthday is not an acceptable thing for random people on the internet to ask. And the irony of the "hide email" button: Why is the adress mandatory if it can be blocked out? Obviously someone has access to it, and as my email is very personal to me, I don't want anyone to get to have it without my consent. As far as those forms go, there are no legitimate mandatory questions other than "username" and "password".
I understand that the email adress is for automated confirmation messages, and to resend my password in case I forget. But just the fact that I receive such a message means my email is stored away somewhere, and I resent it. My adress is for my friends to contact me. Find a better way, or hey, forget about confirmation messages altogether. It may lead to automated programs signing up and taking up space, but there must be some better way to prevent it than invading my privacy.
</janissary>

And that was that.

[Moose]

heh funny u might remeber me if ur the drackir i remeber from del erm
otherwise the name 'scruffydog' erm my evil half. this was like 3 years bak lol.
lol i remeber signin up to a fourm and them sendin me bak an e-mail to me about my fake address and confirming that i lived in happyland in popcorn ville. i ended up changing my own email so i didnt get emails from them again.....

[Drackir]

@Casey: There are bots that crawl the web looking for forums that don't require confirmations so that they can spam them with porn links and such. I think an email is a perfectly valid thing to ask for from an admin's perspective. If you owned boards, would you want a bot adding 400 new members and filling them with spam so that you had to go in and wipe them out just to get rid of it? I don't think so. And likewise, would you really want that to happen to a forum that you are a part of. If you don't want to give your email out, don't. Just have two. A public and a private. I myself have about 6 or 7 emails. It's not that hard to get a new one. Hell, I could make you one here if you wanted. But yeah, I think it is very reasonable to ask for an email. Sending messages to that email without the user's permission though, is a different story entirely.

P.S. You should check out Panic! At the Disco if you don't know them. I think you would like them.

@Moose: heh. Yeah, I remember you. Vaguely (evil half eh? Maybe it's a good thing. ) Welcome to the forums!

Yeah, it's just so dumb making people sign up to view forums. If you are so sure if your content, why not let them come and sign up for themselves. Or AT LEAST view the topics but not be able to post.

[Caseyweederman]

It may lead to automated programs signing up and taking up space, but there must be some better way to prevent it than invading my privacy.


And that was that.

Yep.

Panic? Disco? Band?

The problem with email is that I can just barely commit to one of them. Any more and the less important just sort of drop off.

[Drackir]

It may lead to automated programs signing up and taking up space, but there must be some better way to prevent it than invading my privacy.


And that was that.

Yep.

There isn't. Even the little number pictures don't really work because as I have read somewhere: "If it was made by a computer, it can be understood by a computer." I think an email is a perfectly valid thing to ask for. And as I said, just have two if you don't want to give your main one out. It's not that hard to juggle a few email addresses. My web browser handles three of mine at a time so I think you could handle a gmail and a hotmail account or something. Sheesh.

Edit: It's not "invading" your privacy. You give that information voluntarily and you have the choice not to provide it to the public (or at all). Yes, it does get stored in a database in a form where it could be read, but if it couldn't be read what is the point?

[Caseyweederman]

But requiring the email to view or post.
When it comes down to any forum, written by any person who you just don't know, can you guarantee that they won't just take your info and sell it? No.
Perhaps Burning Boards packages all of their ready-made forums with a command which sends all info back to them, so they can bundle it up and present it to advertising companies.
That's it. You just don't know. If you trust people on the net, then you're craysee.
And once upon a time I had more addresses. One hotmail, one yahoo, one squirrelmail based out of Crescent Island. One by one, they all became so inundated that I let them slide. I don't know if they still exist. I wouldn't touch them. So full of poisonous hate... Drippingly revolting spam, straight out of the can.
So maybe I overcompensated, but hey. My gmail account is for the select few. I don't just give it to people. They have to earn it.

[Drackir]

But requiring the email to view or post.
When it comes down to any forum, written by any person who you just don't know, can you guarantee that they won't just take your info and sell it? No.

Perhaps Burning Boards packages all of their ready-made forums with a command which sends all info back to them, so they can bundle it up and present it to advertising companies.
That's it. You just don't know. If you trust people on the net, then you're craysee.

@1st Para: That is what I was talking about before, you shouldn't have to join just to view topics. And as far as joining for posting purposes, that makes sense. But of course board admins can choose to allow "Guests" to post things too. It's just that usually the don't do that for their own purposes.

@2nd Para: Except that that would be stupid seeing as they give out the sources to you and you could plainly see (whether it's from the source or from your server logs if they were sending info back to their website. Granted I'm sure there are forums like that but I KNOW that the majority of them run off of phpBB and IPB and that there is no way that they sell your email. Especially since I have signed up for quite a few forums with certain emails and have yet to get spam due to it.

[Mizukage]

Maybe, If you are so hard up on all this crud we can simply abolish all internet related technology?

either that or suck it up casey.

[Caseyweederman]

......For the entire time I've used Gmail, nothing. No unwanted email (except for Mizu's here ;D), and I sign up for a forum, and bam, 7 or 8 seemingly unrelated spam shows up. Pisses me off. What was it, if it wasn't forums? There's nowhere else I give out my address.

[Drackir]

Well, I don't know what forums you signed up for but it wasn't from these ones. I have given my e-mail out to MANY forums and have yet to get spam sent to it. Having your email in the database of a forum does not mean that everyone has access to it. On the contrary only site admin will be able to access that information.

[Mizukage]

Clever retort casey but seriously drackir is right about the admin owning you when you sign up.

A Manga site I had put alot of effort in was hacked by one of my assosiates who was on the admin list.

He attack everyone on the roster, only a few were able to escape through
L337 4/\/7! /-/4x0R5.

Its all a matter of who you know and how much you suck.

[Caseyweederman]

That's an example of why I don't like any of my personal information stored anywhere. Unlike in this forum and Crescent Island, I don't know any admins. They could be any of many kinds of freaks who are more than willing to sell my address to the highest bidder. As I said, my address is an extension of my personal self. Email is one of the facets into the internet. I know my eyes and ears in the physical world are constantly being assaulted by mindless consumer crap, and I don't need it every time I send a personal letter on the net.


Relating this to the conversation, commercial databases of user information is sold to companies so that the users may be targetted. It's legitimate enough that nobody can do anything about it.

Note that I said commercial. Most forums (such as this one) are clearly not as low as all that. But they are out there.

I suppose the best, least intrusive example of this commercialistic view on said databases would be gmail. Google mail. It scans the user's messages and a small, non-flashy rectangle appears with related links to sites paying Google to advertise for them. I ignore these easily, and I don't mind them. But when I get spam, any spam at all, it is a serious breach of all I hold dear (speaking internetically). I get a reaction about half as strong as that to forwards.It's like talking on the phone to your mother and randomly having some asshole burst in and scream random stuff.

I suppose some of my reaction to spam and ads would be my anti-materialistic views. I abhor consumerism, and anybody who thinks I can't live without their gimicky product can sod the hell off.


Restating point, becuase I'm sure I lost it a few times, people who want my personal information are going to use it against me. That's just all there is to it. This is a consumer society, which means that everyone takes advantage of everyone. Monetary motivation seems to justify every action.
Still, I admit there are exceptions. But my previous statements hold for a very large portion of the world, such a large amount that would make the exceptions seem very, very small and insignificant.

[Kinewa]

My gmail account is for the select few. I don't just give it to people. They have to earn it.

I earned something! For the first time in my life I've earned something!

Personally for me, the only website that I wish I didn't give my email to was that ninja thing you showed me that sent me approximately 5 daily emails. Fortunately they stopped it after I killed them all in a blazing rage cancelled my subscription.

[Moose]

LOL. u quite sum character. im more of the lazy type and wen stuff like that happens i change email adress and then a couple of months later i go to my old email to find 9374 emails unread.

[molette]

You both have came up with very valid arguments...

But if one person thinks its an invasion of their privacy then thats their problem..

If another person contridics the other person's opinion thats also their problem..

Everyone has their differences.. and u cant just change someone's mind by going on about wat you think is right..

i have only 6 more words for you 2

SHUT UP AND GET OVER IT!!!

[Drackir]

Ah but these forums are for discussion not suppression.


Don't shut up! Lets talk!

[Kinewa]

I... don't know which order to listen to...

Wait a second, by posting this I'm following Drackir's order.


Ahhhh!*Head explodes in a fit of confusion.*

[Mizukage]

Amen <insert relative gender slur>!

Thats what I'm talking about. If you have problems however, might I suggest a mac?

why?

Because I hate you.

[Kinewa]

I would never submit to a mac.

[CoreTechs]

What about a Mc? Or an MC? Would you submit to one of those?